John Lynch: The GOP’s Worst Nightmare in 2012

As the debacle of the Congressional super-committee becomes inevitable, America is drawn even closer to the point where panic-driven budget cuts will replace habitual spending increases as the fiscal norm in Washington, DC. The consequences of panic-driven budget cuts are on full display in Europe, and have been for a long time. Not only do they do a lot of harm to those who depend on government, but they also get in the way of orderly, long-term stable reductions in the size of government. The only way America can avoid the European downward spiral is through real, experience-based, visions-driven leadership, precisely the kind of leadership that has been so sorely lacking in the White House over the past three years. Therefore, it is refreshing that even ardent liberals are beginning to raise questions about Obama running for re-election. Pat Caddell and Doublas Schoen in the Wall Street Journal:

When Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson accepted the reality that they could not effectively govern the nation if they sought re-election to the White House, both men took the moral high ground and decided against running for a new term as president. President Obama is facing a similar reality—and he must reach the same conclusion. He should abandon his candidacy for re-election in favor of a clear alternative, one capable not only of saving the Democratic Party, but more important, of governing effectively and in a way that preserves the most important of the president’s accomplishments. He should step aside for the one candidate who would become, by acclamation, the nominee of the Democratic Party: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Never before has there been such an obvious potential successor—one who has been a loyal and effective member of the president’s administration, who has the stature to take on the office, and who is the only leader capable of uniting the country around a bipartisan economic and foreign policy.

Clinton has said repeatedly that she is not interested. Few seem to believe her, but if she is being genuinely straightforward, it means the party would have to find another candidate. That should not take long. There is one man who could shake up the presidential election in a way that Obama did in 2008, but this time do it based on proven executive experience and a policy track record that should have Mitt Romney shaking in his boots.

That man’s name is New Hampshire Governor John Lynch. A first glance at his values and his track record says that it would essentially be a toss-up whether he or Governor Romney would make a better president. He has more in common with fiscal conservatives, center-right leaning moderates and traditional liberals who actually appreciate America, than with the hard-line left that currently occupies the White House.